Long Beach State will head to Santa Clara to face the Broncos in the first round of the NCAA Tournament after winning the Big West women's soccer Tournament title, Sunday. The 49ers will face Santa Clara for the second-consecutive season in the first round of the Tournament and will meet the Broncos for the fourth time in six trips to the Tourney since 2010. The game will be played at 1 pm on Saturday, November 12.

LONG BEACH STATE RAISES CUP
Long Beach State claimed its third-ever Big West Tournament title after a dominating 3-0 performance in the Tournament title game versus UC Irvine, Sunday. The Beach had three different players find the back of the net in the first half to earn the 49ers a trip to the NCAA Tournament - Kaitlin Fregulia (5’), Jessica Vincent (24’) and Ashley Gonzales (26’). Long Beach is now 8-4-3 all-time in the Big West Tourney and 4-2-1 in tournament finals.MIMI RANGEL IS MOST VALUABLELong Beach State junior midfielder Mimi Rangel received most valuable player honors after recording an assist in Sunday’s championship and helping her team punch its ticket to the NCAA Tournament. Rangel was named the Big West Conference’s Midfielder of the Year earlier this season and received first-team all-conference accolades for the fourth time in her career. This marks the third Tournament MVP award for Long Beach State.
DÉJÀ VU FOR BEACH
Long Beach State drew Santa Clara as its NCAA Tournament first round matchup for the second consecutive season. The 49ers will travel to face the Broncos at Stevens Stadium for a 1 pm kickoff, Saturday, November 12. The 2016 postseason marks the fourth time in six trips to the Tourney that these two teams will meet.

BEACH BRACKET
Other hosts for the 49ers’ portion of the bracket include Minnesota, Pepperdine and Stanford, the top overall seed. The hosts for the second and third rounds will be determined following the completion of the first round of action.

A photo posted by Long Beach State Athletics (@lbsu) on Nov 6, 2016 at 3:34pm PST

BIG WEST TOURNAMENT TALK
Long Beach State recorded back-to-back shutouts with senior goalkeeper Ashton McKeown, tying a Big West Tournament record. The Beach is the fifth team to accomplish the feat. Three goals scored in a single game ties for fourth-most scores in a single Tournament contest and the 49ers are the sixth team in Tournament history to do so. Four goals over the course of the Tournament rank fifth-best in the record book. The 2016 Tournament also marks just the third time a single team has scored three or more goals in a championship game and the 3-0 shutout win marks the greatest margin of victory in a shutout.

TOURNAMENT FINAL
The Big West Tournament final featured Long Beach State and UC Irvine. The Anteaters earned a spot in the title match for the fifth time in program history after winning 4-2 in penalty kicks over Cal State Fullerton. Junior Grayson Galbraith converted the winning PK for the ’Eaters to secure a spot in the championship for the first time since 2011.

3-0
• The 3-0 shutout win was the largest margin of victory in a shutout win in Big West Tournament history

Ashley Dean
• Ashley Dean of UC Santa Barbara sat down with us earlier this season. Her story aired on ESPN3 and Fox Sports Prime Ticket last weekend but don't worry! If you have yet to see the piece, the Big West will be releasing it later this week.